Car-fender.



No. 792,920. 7 PATENTBD JUNE 20, 1905. J. OLEARY.

CAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28. 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

ji'zwzzfwr QJEZZZ 015 6Z3 7% Y PATENTED JUNE 20; }905.

J. OLEARY.

GAR FENDER.

APPLIOATION FILED rm.- ze, 1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Oiled? fig? UNITED STATES Patented June 20, 1905.

JOHN OLFARY, OF COHOES, NEW YORK.

CAR-FENDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 792,920, dated June 20, 1905. Application. filed February 28, 1905. Serial No. 247,737.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN OLEARY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Cohoes, in the county of Albany and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Car-Fenders, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to car-fenders, the object of the invention being to provide a simple device of this character which is effective in operation and which is adjustable to adapt it to cars traveling upon city and suburban routes.

In cities it is usually required that the fender extend but a short distance forward from the car. In suburban traffic, however, it is essential that the fender for safety shouldextend a greater distance forward from the car. As will be understood, I provide for both of the contingencies mentioned.

The fender involves an upper frame and a lower frame, the upper frame being ordinari'ly adapted normally to occupy a place below the dashboard of the car, so as to leave said dashboard unobstructed, and the lower frame being automatically shiftable from the normal or set position to an operative position and being adapted on such shifting motion to thrust the upper frame upwardly, so that an apron in front of and cooperative with the frames can be carried in front of said dashboard.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification I illustrate a simple form of embodiment of my invention, which I will set forth in detail in the following description; but I do not, however, limit myself to the disclosure thus made, for certain changes as to a number of structural features may be adopted within the scope of my invention as embraced by the claims succeeding said description.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side ele'vation of my fender in operative position. Fig. 2 is a similar view of the same in running or set position. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional side view of the same with the parts in positions corresponding to those in which they are represented as being in Fig. 1. Fig. 4: is

5 a top plan View of the fender. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a bracket and a part of the cross-bar which unites the same with a cooperating bracket. Fig. 6 is a like view of a bracket-supporting arm. Fig. 7 is a like View of one of the side bars of the lowerframe of the fender. Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view taken through one side of the rear portion of the fender.

The fender structure may be supported in any desirable way. For such purpose, however, I have illustrated two laterally-separated arms (each designated by 2) and which may be secured to the body of the car at the platform thereof in any desirable wayfor example, by bolting or riveting, as may be more convenient. The arms have heads at their forward ends rising therefrom, each being slotted, and into which are fitted inwardly-extending flanges, as 3, upon the side brackets 4. From this it will be evident that the brackets 4 can be easily lifted from their supportingarms. At the lower ends of the flanges are wings, as 5, which fit against the inner faces of the heads of the two arms in a somewhat solid manner, so as to prevent lateral motion of the brackets. The distance between the brackets 4 is approximately equal to the width of the fender, and in turn it is practically the same as the width of the car. Levers, as 6, are fulcrumed between their ends to the inner faces of .the bodies of the two brackets, the levers being somewhat of elbow or angular form, although they are not fulcrumed or pivoted at their angles.

To what might be considered the outer ends of the two levers are jointedsay by means of pivots the complemental side bars 7 of the upper frame or the frame of a guard for the dash of the car. The side bars 7 when the fender is set or occupying its normal relation will be down, so that the flexible apron hereinafter mentioned cooperative with said side bars will not under normal conditions stand directly in front of the platform. In this way I can conform to some city regulations which require that the front dash of a car should not be obstructed.

Each of the bars 7 has an elongated slot 8 extending longitudinally of the same,two slots receiving headed guide-pins, as 9, upon the brackets 4. These guide-pins may consist able number.

of bolts, and they are located above the fulcrums of the two levers 6. By reason of the mounting of the side bars 7 it will be evident that they are'capable of endwise movement. They normally or when the fender is set 00- cupy a position with the upper ends of the slots 8 near or against the guide-pins 9. When in such position, the apron hereinafter described connected with the side bars 7 will not be directly in-front of the dash of the car. When, however, said side bars 7 are thrust upwardly, and the way this occurs will hereinafter appear, the upper portion of the apron is carried therewith, so as to bring the apron directly in front of the dash and prevent a person picked up by the fender from striking against the dash. The side bars 7, with the upper portion of the apron in question, present a guard for the dash, while the side bars 10 constitute, with their immediate connections, a fender proper, the lower end of the said apron being yieldingly connected with a cross-bar, as 11, uniting said side bars. As will be evident upon an inspection of the drawings and as will hereinafter more particularly appear,

the cross-bar 11 extends between the complemental sides of an extension associated with the main portion of the fender proper, said extension being adapted to provide for longitudinal adjustment of the said fender proper, and as the apron hereinafter described is connected with the extension the apron is adapted for efl ective use under all conditions. The cross-bar is rigidly connected with the side bars 10 on the upper side of the latter. The side bars 10 of the fender (as 1 have hereinbefore termed it fender proper) have weighted heels 12 rising from their rear ends. The weighting of the heels may be secured by making them somewhat thicker than the bodies of the bars 10, and the reason for this will be hereinafter evident. The heels 12 are pivotally connected with what might be considered the rear arms of the levers 6.

Upon the forward side of each side bar 7 of the upper or dash-guard frame, near opposite ends thereof, are located bowed springs 13, the springs, as will be evident, being in cooperating pairs. A cross-bar, as 14, is connected with the upper pair of springs 13, while a substantially similar cross-bar 15 is connected with the lower pair, the connection of the bars with the springs being to the free portions of the latter, by virtue of which the two bars when struck can yield backwardly. This will buff or prevent shock to a person striking the upper half of the apron. The opposite ends of the cross-bars 14 and 15 extend outwardly beyond the side bars 7, so as to provide for a wide apron, they constituting part of the apron to which I have hereinbefore briefly alluded. Connecting the crossbars 14 and 15 are elongated strips, each designated by 16. The strips may be of any suit- Four of them are illustrated, and they are attached to the two cross-bars at equal intervals. This, however, and other like details are immaterial. The strips 16, which are flexible in order to permit the folding of the apron when the fender is set, extend downwardly or outwardly beyond the lower cross-bar 15 and are connected, by means of coiled springs, as 17, or their equivalents, with the cross-bar 11. Slats 18, arranged in parallelism and in comparatively close order, extend across and are connected to the strips 16. The slats may be of thin light metal or anything similar. The cross-bars 14 and 15, with strips 16 and slats 18, present a skeleton apron, against which a person is thrown when picked up by the fender. By the construction such person cannot be injured nor can'he strike any solid or projecting part of the car.

When the fender is in its operative or pickup relation, in contradistinction to its running or normal relation, theupper portion of the apron will extend across the front of the dash, so that, as hereinbefore stated, a person picked up cannot strike the dash. As the upper portion of the apron is fixedly connected with the upper frame of the fender and as the lower portion thereof is free, the

apron when folded will not bunch up or pucker, as it might be if connected simply at its ends to the fender-framing. When the apron is opened out, it presents an arched-like lower portion of bed-like form, in which a person can relatively comfortably lie.

The lower side bars 10 are extensible, each having a backwardly and forwardly movable supplemental section, as 19. The sections 19 have longitudinal slots to receive pins, which may be bolts, as 20, upon the bodies of said side bars 10. The supplemental or adjustable sections 19 are connected by cross-rods 21, and they constitute, as will be understood, part of the lower section of the fender or a portion of the fender proper, of which the side bars 10, with their connecting cross-bar 11, constitute the principal part. From this it will be understood that I provide upper and lower frames connected by a flexible apron, the lower frame being extensible-that is, said lower frame has a supplemental or auxiliary portion, which is movable forwardly to increase the length of the fender and backwardly to meet the conditions hereinbefore specified.

The lip or lower frame of the fender is designated in a general way by 22 and is shown as a pivotal or swinging part made up of side bars and connecting cross-bars, the side oars being jointed to the supplemental sections 19 of the lower frame of the fender. The side bars of this lip rest upon suitable stops, as 23, carried upon the adjustable sections 19. Should the lip 22 at the upward end of the fender strike a stone or like object in the road-bed, it will swing upwardly, so as to prevent injury to the fender structure. Should a person, however, be struck by the pivoted lip or toe of the fender, the latter will be thrust inward rearwardly, as will hereinafter appear, so as to cause the upward thrusting of the side bars 7 and the movement into operative position of the fender.

When the fender is set or in running position, the side bars 7 of the upper frame will be in their extreme lower positions, the upper ends of the slots 8 being contiguous to the guide-pins 9 on the brackets 4:. The heels of the side bars 10 will be in their extreme backward positions, While said side bars 10 will be up and away from or out of contact with the road-bed. When in this relation, the upper forward portions of the heels 12 will bear against the flanges, as 2 L, upon the side bars 10, and the center of gravity of the two weighted heels will be forward of the center of motion of the levers 6, by virtue of which the fender will be maintained in its set position. In running should the lip or toe of the fender strike a stone or like object in the roadway said lip will be lifted. Should, ho wever, the forward portion of the lower section of the fender strike a person, the fender will be caused to move rearwardly with respect to the car, and as it does move rearwardly the center of gravity of the weighted heels 12 will shift to the rear of a vertical line intersecting the center of movement of the two levers 6, so that by the weights of the heels the lower portion of the fender or the side bars 10 can drop down and then forward. During the automatic shifting motion of the side bars 10 the lovers 6 are rocked thereby, so as to thrust the side bars 7 upwardly until the lower ends of the slots strike the pins 9. As the upper side bars 7 ascend and as the lower side bars 10 drop the flexible apron, hereinbefore described, will be opened out, so as to provide a yieldable buffer on which the person may fall. When the heels 12 bear against the flanges 2 1, the lower portion of the fender will be held immovable. I connect said heels with the flanges 24 by chains or equivalent flexible connections, as 25, which when the fender is set hang loose between their points of connection with the respective parts. When, however, the two sections of the fender are automatically operated, the chains will be tightened, being tightened to their maximum extent when the two frame parts reach their extreme shifted positions. When in the extreme shifted positions,the side bars 10 will be near the road-bed, and the chains when tight will prevent the forward portion of the side bars 10 from tipping upward. It will be understood that what might be considered the lower ends of the chains 25 are connected with the heels 12 at points to the rear of a vertical line intersecting the pivots between the heels and levers 6 when the side bars are in their lower and advanced positions.

In city uses of the fender the sections 19 will be at their extreme backward positions. In suburban use, however, the said sections will be moved forward to extend the fender sufficiently to adapt it to such use.

One of the features of the invention, as will be found upon an inspection of the drawings, is the combination, with a car, of a fender extending at all times in front of the car, said fender having an extension adjustable forward and backward with relation to the body thereof to adjust the effective length of said fender with respect to the front of the car and with respect to the body.

Having described the invention, what I claim isv 1. In a car-fender, an upper frame and a lower frame, the upper frame being adapted normally to occupy a place below the dashboard of the car, and the lower frame being automatically shiftable from the normal or set position to an operative position, and being adapted, on such shifting motion, to thrust the upper frame upwardly, and an apron in front of and cooperative with the frames.

2. In a car-fender, an upper frame and a lower frame, the upper frame being adapted normally to occupy a place below the dashboard of the car, and the lower frame being automatically shiftable from the normal or set position to an operative position, and being adapted, on such shifting motion, to thrust the upper frame upwardly, and an apron in front of the two frames fixedly connected with the upper frame and also with the lower frame.

3. In a car-fender, an upper frame and a lower frame, the upper frame being adapted to normally occupy a place below the dashboard of the car, and the lower frame being automatically shiftable from the normal or set position to an operative position, and being adapted, on such shifting motion, to thrust the upper frame upwardly, and an apron in front of the two frames fixedly connected at different points in its length with the upper frame and yieldingly connected with the lower frame.

4. In a car-fender, an upper frame and a lower frame, the upper frame normally occupying a position below the dash of a car,

and the lower frame being automatically shiftable from a set or normal position and serving, on such shifting motion, to thrust the upper frame upwardly, the latter involving side bars, springs connected to the forward sides of the sidebars near the opposite ends thereof, and an apron connected at one end to the upper pair of springs, between its ends to the other pair of springs, and, at its lower end, yieldingly connected to the lower frame.

5. In a car-fender, an upper frame, a lower frame weighted to cause its automatic shifting motion from a set or normal position to an operative position, the lower frame, on its shifting movement, serving to thrust the upper frame upward, and an apron in front of and cooperative with said frames.

6. In a car-fender, an upper frame, a lower frame mounted for swinging movement and weighted at its rear to cause its automatic shifting motion from a set or normal position to an operative position, said lower frame, on said shifting motion, serving to thrust the upper frame upwardly, and an apron in front of and cooperative with the two frames.

7. In a car-fender, an upper frame, a pair of levers to which the lower end of the upper frame is jointed,alower frame having a weighted rear end jointed to said levers, the center of gravity of the weighted end of the lower frame, when the fender is set, occupying a position forward of a vertical line intersecting the axis of motion of the levers, and said lower frame being adapted, when its center of gravity is shifted, to swing downwardly and forwardly, and, through said levers, to swing the upper frame upward, and an apron in front of and cooperative with the two frames.

8. In a car-fender, an upper frame, a pair of levers to which the lower end of the upper frame is jointed,a lower frame havinga weighted rear end jointed to said levers, the center of gravity of the weighted end of the lower frame, when the fender is set, occupying a position forward of a vertical line intersecting the axis of motion of the levers, and said lower frame being adapted, when its center of gravity is shifted, to swing downwardly and forwardly, and, through said levers, to swing the upper frame upward, an apron in front of and cooperative with the two frames, and a connection between the two frames for holding the forward end of the lower frame against tilting when said lower frame is in its shifted or operative position.

9. The combination of a car, a fender arranged to extend at all times in front of the same and comprising a frame, and an apron associated with the frame, thelatter having an extension adjustable forward and backward with respect to the body and of the car, to vary the length of the fender.

10. In a car-fender, an upper frame comprisinglongitudinally-slotted side bars, guidepins to fit the slots in the said side bars, the upper ends of the slots normally fitting against the guide-pins, alower frame arranged to shift from a set or normal to an operative position, and, on said shifting motion, to thrust the upper frame upwardly, and an apron connected yieldingly at its upper end with the upper ends of said bars, intermediate its ends, yieldingly with the lower ends of said bars, and at its lower end, yieldingly with the lower frame.

11. In acar-fender, an upper frame, a lower frame shiftable automatically from a set or normal position to an operative position and arranged, on said shifting motion, to thrust the upper frame upwardly, said lower frame having a forward and backward adjustable extension, and an apron in front of and connected with the frames.

12. In a car-fender, a frame, and an apron associated therewith, said frame having an extension adjustable forward and backward with relation to the body thereof, and said extension having its forward end arranged for swinging motion.

13. The combination of a car, a fender com prising a frame extending at all times in front of the car, and having an extension adjustable forwardly and backwardly to vary the length of the fender, and an apron connected with said extension.

14. In a car-fender, an upper frame and a lower frame, .the lower frame being automatically shiftable from a set to an operative position and serving, on its shifting mot-ion, to thrust the upper frame upward, and the lower frame being provided with an extension, adjustable forwardly and backwardly.

15. In a car-fender, an upper frame and a lower frame, the lower frame being automatically shiftable from a set to an operative position, and serving, on its shifting motion, to thrust the upper frame upward, and the lower frame being provided with an extension adjustable forwardly and backwardly, and an apron connected with the upper frame and with the extension of the lower frame.

In testimony whereof Ihave hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN OLEARY.

WVitnesses:

J OHN LYONS, FRED W. VAINE. 

